For a legal hit, at that. I fully expect the suspension will not be overturned on appeal to the players association or whoever the hell reviews appeals these days.

First, Harrison hit McCoy as a running back. There is no such thing as a hit on a “defenseless” running back. That rule strictly applies to WRs and QBs in some capacity. To be sure, it is entirely unclear when it applies to QBs. But I offer you this; there is not a more “defenseful” position in football than running towards the line of scrimmage in the open field with your head up. In fucking fact, a QB is afforded the special option of SLIDING, at which point he cannot be hit. McCoy pussy footed toward the line of scrimmage and he got punished as he should have.

There is no such thing as a helmet to helmet hit on a running back, a WR, a QB, or anyone else with their head up and eyes directed at the player hitting them. If this were the case, every single football play would result in a penalty, fine, and suspension. Also, riddle me this…Why is Harrison playing with a visor these days? That’s right, he took a helmet to helmet shot that fractured his orbital bone. There was no flag, no fine, and clearly no suspension.

Second, Harrison is playing in real time. Assuming Goodell even stepped foot on a football field, he was clearly only playing at half speed. Otherwise, the only playing he has ever done is via replay (this point also applies to the refs that penalize these players). Harrison hit a moving target that presumably could have side-stepped, dove, slid, OR LOWERED HIS GODDAMN HEAD INTO HARRISON’S CHEST AND/OR HELMET. And at that, Harrison cannot go for the legs because QBS, based on some equally fucked up logic, probably get protection there as well despite the fact that they are outside the pocket moving up field. Yet Harrison is supposed to make a perfect form tackle.

Third (and this one really agitates me), we have the NFL talking about player safety like they have been a zealot of it in the past. And then there is ESPN talking about how egregious these hits are…Are you shitting me? NFL Live’s “Jacked up segment” and NFL Films “Greatest Hits” have been rolling in the $ FOR YEARS. But now they are suspending players for these type of hits. And at the same time, the NFL does not require its players to wear full padding (knee pads, etc.) and it does not require them to use state of the art helmets. Not to mention the lack of retirement benefits, etc. etc. The NFL has lost its mind and Goodell is its finest piss-ant.

I'd add just one more thing-- the Harrison suspension is being played off by the NFL and the national media (who I think are terrified of having their credentials revoked and hence will not directly or indirectly criticize anything that Herr Goodell does) as a 'repeat offender' issue, largely based on the Massaquoi hit from last year.

But the Massaquoi hit was equally disputable and arbitrarily adjudged to have been illegal as well! This is exactly the kind of unthinking and vapid adherence to status quo that pervades not only NFL but also the larger national culture.